Rebecca stepped forward, her gait stiff, but her expression determined. As she reached out her arms, Ivarsson started to blend into the surroundings as an effect of rays of light curving around the agent. Ivarsson’s movements were still detectable to Jalen as a faint, hazy outline, indicating that the effect was imperfect.

“On my signal, you whip around the corner and put rounds into them,” Ivarsson said to the vanguard agents, then darted forward and dove into a room across the corridor. A trail of bullets followed her, but the disguise proved sufficient, masking her true location. Minutes later, gunshots of a lower caliber than the rifle rounds prior echoed, followed by pained cries from the hostile gunmen. Navarro and the remaining agents peeked around the corner and put their pistols to use as well.

For the next few minutes, the air clapped with the thunder of bullet fire, and the thuds of high-velocity impacts as debris sprayed about. One agent took a bullet to her shoulder and had to grimace through the patchwork another agent provided for her. A young boy, similar in age to Caleb, stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. His skin seemed to merge with hers, as biomass traveled from him to her wound, healing her up.

“Thanks, kid,” she muttered.

The gunfight was rounding down by now, with the occasional round fired by Navarro.

“Clear!” Ivarsson shouted.

The agents rounded the corner, followed by Jalen and the prospective heroes. Yun had woken up during the firefight, her ears perked up.

A wounded gunman leaned against the wall, blood pouring from multiple gunshot wounds in his chest, while the rest of his cohorts lay still on the ground in puddles of blood.

“He won’t survive long,” Ivarsson stated.

“True,” Navarro agreed. “No harm in finding out who he is, though.”

The agent reached for the man’s ski mask and pulled it off, then stumbled back, taken aback by a shocking revelation. “Davies? But why?”

The gunman laughed, then coughed up blood. “Now, why would I tell you?”

Navarro shook his head in disbelief. “It makes no goddamn sense. You were supposed to be stationed in Europe.”

“Something’s amiss. Look.” Another agent pointed at the body of another gunman he just unmasked.

The still face of the gunman, spotting a bullet in the head, was an exact match of the remaining gunman. With that revelation, the agents unmasked all the gunmen, revealing them to possess not only the same face but identical bodies as well.

Gunshots rang behind them, followed by apologies from the rearguard.

“You could have killed them!” A female voice shouted. “Weren’t you trained to fire only when you identify a target?”

More apologies ensued from the agent who made the mistake.

A striking figure emerged from the corridor’s corner. Light gleamed off her black crystal form, shimmering with the complexity of a diamond. Jalen recognized her as the up-and-coming superhero called Obsidian Jess, who Ampress took under her tutelage. Following close behind her was an apologetic agent and a group of scientists stained with soot and dirt.

Obsidian Jess walked towards Ivarsson, a dangerous air about her. “Ampress is risking her life holding the intruders back by her lonesome. Please tell me why you are all standing around?”

“We are evacuating the superhumans who attended the convention,” Ivarsson said.

“My apologies ma’am,” Navarro said. He was bent down beside the remaining gunman. “I was trying to ascertain why one of our agents turned on us. The situation proves more complex the more we unravel.”

“Come closer,” the gunman mumbled between pained breaths. “And I’ll tell you why… I did this.” When Navarro leaned in, a sinister smirk appeared on the gunman’s face. “Could you be any more gullible?”

“How unfortunate,” Yun whispered so low only Jalen heard her.

The explosion that engulfed Navarro came without warning, an expanding shockwave that sent Ivarsson and other nearby agents flying. The aspiring heroes gasped and recoiled, the deafening roar from the blast overwhelming them. Jalen, being closer, bore the full shockwave from the explosion and had visible bruises to show for it.

“Oh my God!” Ella exclaimed, shielding her eyes from the grotesque scene while he frowned in distaste.

As it turned out, other agents besides Navarro were caught in the blast; the walls were sprayed with layers of blood, while the ground was covered with bits of unrecognizable body parts.

“Everyone, let’s go now!” Obsidian Jess announced, jolting those who were in shock before helping Ivarsson to her feet. The agent suffered a head wound that leaked blood into her eye. However, instead of accepting the medic’s help, Ivarsson only agreed to use gauze to reduce the bleeding.

“I thought it was standard procedure to disarm hostiles,” Obsidian Jess said, her focus on the stairway as they descended.

“We disarmed him.” Ivarsson pointed her pistol at the door of the next floor, while the rest of the group stayed back at a safe distance. “And patted him down. I think the explosion was caused by the hostile’s ability.”

Armed with that knowledge, Obsidian Jess, serving as the vanguard, burst through the door, her crystalline form easily absorbing the impact. A torrent of gunfire came alive. However, this time, the superhero made short work of the gunmen. A few explosions similar to one that took Navarro went off, but Obsidian Jess shouted that the area was clear, clearly unfazed. This time no agent dared leave any enemy combatants alive. Ivarsson even pumped some point-blank rounds into the downed gunmen, then she collected some replacement magazines from the rearguard. The few survivors present joined the ever-growing group.

The next floor proved too difficult to handle, even for Obsidian Jess. It went downhill when some gunmen ambushed them at the staircase, pulling the sole superhero from the vanguard to shield them from the spray of gunfire as the terrified group shuffled into the floor to meet another contingent of gunmen. It was the quick thinking and expertise of Ivarsson that saved most of them. Even at that, a few staff were gunned down in the process.

Somehow, in the ensuing chaos, Ella, Jalen, Ivarsson, Obsidian Jess, and a few other agents were separated from the rest of the group. Ella was the catalyst, rushing to block Rebecca and Caleb from the clear line of sight a gunman had on the siblings. Her selfless act saved the lives of her friend and so many others as the gunman focused his fire on her while the sea of bodies behind her ran for cover into a large gym room. Seeing that his bullets had little effect on her, the gunman reloaded his gun and turned to the few squishy targets still running into the room. However, a well-placed bullet to his head from Ivarsson put that issue to rest. Jalen had stayed close to his sister, to provide assistance should she need it.

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Ella stood rooted to the spot, too shocked about what happened to even utter a word. So he grabbed her hand, intending to pull her toward the gym room. But the arrival of more gunmen coupled with Obsidian Jess, bursting into the corridor, and stating that many hostiles were imminent from the staircase meant they had to dive in a direction away from the group to avoid the pincer attack.

“It’s like the guy has near-endless clones!” Obsidian Jess shouted. “Fucking hell.”

The sheer volume of potent ordinance the new group of hostiles unleashed funneled them into an expansive exercise room, littered with equipment that soon succumbed to the stray bullets and bouncing grenades.

An explosion went off near them, spraying debris at dangerous velocities.

“Holy shit!” Ella screamed.

Thankfully, the debris curved around an invisible force field and peppered the bench press equipment behind them. Jalen smiled and stroked Yun’s back, contemplating whether he would have to reveal his true powers.

In keeping with the unexpected and shocking way in which things were unfolding, ear-piercing, rumbling blows sounded, like a mountain being detonated, as the ceiling before them came tumbling down, a thick cloud of dust kicked up in the wake, blinding everyone, except Yun, who relayed what she saw to Jalen. Apparently, a large humanoid reptile with a crocodile head stood atop the debris. Fortunately, the incident crushed all the approaching gunmen. Obsidian Jess seemed to sense the new foe’s presence, so she stood between it and them.

As the dust cleared, Ivarsson tried to reload her pistol. When she found out her mags were empty, she clicked her tongue and assumed her place, bare-handed, beside Obsidian Jess.

“You should stand down and take the civilians to safety,” Obsidian Jess suggested.

“How?” Ivarsson asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, we are trapped. The only way out is to go through that thing.”

The reptilian man was visible to all of them now, a towering frame with layers of muscle, covered by a tapestry of brown and green jagged scales. His eyes, small and beady, gleamed with a predatory yellow glow as he assessed the prey that lay before him while his wide, gaping mouth filled with rows of uneven, sharp teeth, growled with a grizzly savagery.

Another man jumped down through the hole in the ceiling. This newcomer resembled every other gunman they’d brought down, the only difference being his casual attire topped with a leather jacket.

“I just felt my clones die, mate,” the man said, glaring at the reptilian man.

The reptilian man shrugged. “You said I’d find powerful foes below, so here I am. You can always make more copies.” His yellow eyes scanned the group before him with insignificance devoid of his prior ferocity. “Besides, I don’t see any powerful foes here.” Growling with disappointment, the reptilian man waved them off. “Run off, weaklings. If you are still here by the time I blink, I’ll bite your heads off.”

“Where is Ampress?” Obsidian Jess asked, her tone laced with a bubbling rage.

“Who?”

“She’s talking about the superhero you fought, Crocman,” the other man said, his demeanor relaxed. “And who put you in charge? We’ll kill them all. Especially the black crystal one. That should grab Novaman’s attention.”

“Where is Ampress?” Obsidian Jess asked again, the grating sound of stone grinding on stone reverberating as she gritted her teeth.

“Oh, this?” Crocman sneered and raised his hand, which was hidden behind his back. In his grip was the decapitated head of a woman, hanging from her hair. “If you want to know her last words, I’ll save you the hassle. It was undignified.”

Obsidian Jess let out a piercing scream as she lunged towards Crocman, her left hand transforming into a long, pointed weapon. Crocman tossed the head into the air, which she scrambled to catch. In a flash, his hand came hurtling towards her. The crystalline superhero was in no position to react, her hands occupied by the head, so the punch landed and sent her smashing through the wall on the right.

Crocman regarded the remaining people, his gaze mainly on Ivarsson, who squared against him. “Killer Cell has spoken. I’ll gladly make your deaths swift.”

Faced with a dangerous foe, Jalen turned to his sister. This served as a perfect opportunity for her to showcase her powers.

“You gonna let us die, Ella?” he asked.

His sister looked back at him. She was sweating profusely and her arms were shaking.

“This is your chance,” he said. “You have the power to defeat him.”

“But how?” Ella was holding back tears.

He shot her a stern gaze. “You know how. Remember when Yun talked to you about burdens and responsibility? The duty to act. This is one of those times, Ella. We can’t back down. We either fight or die.”

Ivarsson offered Ella a warm smile. “It’s okay. I’ll distract him. You’ll only have a few seconds at best, so both of you use the opportunity to escape.” The agent walked forward, determined to sacrifice herself.

“No,” Ella said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I’ll fight. I don’t want anyone dying for me.”

Crocman popped his head back with a toothy laugh. “Oh yes, faced with certain death, the weaklings trip over themselves trying to die first.”

Yun dropped from his shoulder and sat near Ivarsson, her attention fully on the imminent fight.

Ella scooted forward, ignoring the warning look from Ivarsson. Soon, Crocman, baring his jagged teeth, and her were only meters apart, locked in a stare-down. Crocman’s tail whipped, cracking the air. She flinched but stood her ground. Next, he let loose a deathly roar that chilled the bones in her body. Even though she stepped back in fear, somehow she assumed a fighting stance, one foot before the other and fists raised.

With his intimidation tactics thwarted, Crocman dove at Ella, his heavy, scaled arm wrestling her to the ground, while the other, tipped with long claws, reared to carve her. Ella, with a strength that shocked Crocman, pulled the massive reptilian man to the ground and locked her arms around his neck.

She squeezed with all her might. Crocman struggled to his feet and shook himself frantically, trying to dislodge her, to no avail. He wobbled on his feet, his eyes unfocused while she choked the air out of his wide neck. Only when he dug his claws into her back did he manage to tear her off and throw her aside.

Crocman wanted to rush after her immediately, but he fell to a knee instead, grasping his throat, his breathing heavy and labored. The aloft and nonchalant demeanor of the reptilian man was long gone as he dropped to all fours, deep growls escaping from his long jaw, and charged her down like a tiger on the hunt.

Ella panicked and shielded herself with her arm, which Crocman bit into with his razor-sharp teeth. She screamed and wailed as Crocman gnawed and chewed on her arm like a rabid dog. She tried everything to escape his jaws, punching him in the eye, pulling his nose, and kneeing his stomach. Yet the determined Crocman held on.

Yun inched forward, then sat once more, when she made eye contact with Jalen, who urged her to wait. His sister had a lot to learn.

Crocman backed her against the wall and pinned her free arm with his. Losing pools of blood from her mangled arm and left with no way to fight back, Ella, too, sank her teeth into Crocman’s thick neck. He scoffed at her attempt as he tried to gain purchase of her shoulder with his bloody jaw.

However, moments later, Ella’s teeth grew longer and sharper. Her nose elongated into a furry snout, claws growing in place of her nails. Now she ripped into Crocman’s neck with the upgraded natural weapon of a powerful lion. The hunter became the hunted, the reptilian man screaming and trying to free his neck from her deadly jaws.

“Shit!” Killer Cell ballooned, his body inflating, then exploded into thousands of semi-liquid droplets that splattered all around him. The droplets grew in size, morphing into identical copies of him when the appropriate body mass was achieved. During the process, the original Killer Cell remained even after exploding, though he seemed exhausted. Jalen noted that some droplets were red, while most appeared gray.

Suddenly losing the exchange, Crocman unclasped his maw, cupped his large hands around Ella’s neck, and squeezed. She released her jaws from his neck and received a clawed swipe to her body, which she returned, smashing her clawed paw on his face, which sent him reeling. Crocman backed off, visibly baffled.

“The bitch is stronger than Ampress,” Crocman exclaimed, a smile on his bloodied face.

Obsidian Jess emerged from the hole in the wall, a scowl etched on her crystal face and Ampress’ head in her hand, which she gently placed on the seat of a surviving chest fly machine, then flanked the reptilian man.

“I’ll be joining now, Crocman.” Killer Cell’s clones assembled around the injured reptilian man, who grunted in disagreement, but otherwise accepted the help.

“Save your rounds for any of his copies that charge at us,” Ivarsson said to the remaining agents. “They could be the bomb variants. Does anyone have carium-laced ammo?”

Some agents said no, while the others shook their heads, signifying the same answer.

Ivarsson sighed. “Protocol will have to change after this mess.”